1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a character input method and apparatus which inputs characters and obtains the character codes corresponding to the inputted characters.
2. Description of the Related Prior Arts
There is a conventional freehand character input apparatus which recognizes an inputted freehand character and displays the character on a coordinate input apparatus such as a tablet. In such an apparatus, in the case where an inputted freehand character is recognized, a list of recognition candidate characters corresponding to each heading to which a freehand character is inputted is designated in advance and a character recognition is performed on the basis of the list of recognition candidate characters. The inputted freehand character is recognized in a manner such that a plurality of candidate characters among the recognized candidate characters are displayed and the appropriate character among the displayed candidate characters is selected and designated. Furthermore, the following apparatus is also known. That is, to which region of the screen the position where the freehand character has been inputted belongs is discriminated, and the kind of the candidate characters corresponding to that region is specified. Then, the plurality of specified candidate characters are displayed and the character is recognized.
However, in the above-described method and apparatus, there are the following drawbacks. First, in the former case, since the list of recognition candidate characters is effective only when data is inputted into a certain heading, the list of candidate characters needs to be changed whenever the title of a heading is changed resulting in complexity of the operation.
Second, in the later case, since the region determination is performed on the basis of the position of the screen where the inputted freehand character is located, if the layout of document is changed, the designation of candidate characters needs to be changed. Therefore, whenever the document layout is changed, the recognition candidate characters corresponding to the region of the screen needs to be redesignated. Thus, the operation is considerably complicated.